Stitched buttonhole.



E. B. ALLEN.

STITCHED B UTTONHOLE. APPLjCATION FILED JAN.3. 1914.

WITNESSES: l/Vl/E r01? I -ATT0/?/VEY Patented: Apr. 20, 1915.

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EDWARD B. ALLEN, F BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

STITCHED BUTTONHOLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. so, 11ers.

- To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD B. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stitched Buttonholes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has for its primary object to provide the face of a fabric with a corded overseam in the form of a closed pattern with the cord not only wholly concealed beneath the overseam stitches but anchored in such manner that the shape of the pattern will not be disturbed by the action of the cord in the subsequent handling or use of the fabric.

While the present invention is applicable to certain classes of embroidery work comprising corded overseams applied in the form of closed patterns, it is designed especially for buttonholes having corded overseams upon their upper faces, and more particularly eyelet-end buttonholes of this character. a

In the preferred form of the invention, a loop of the cord is thrust through the fabric at a point adjacent the smaller end of the buttonhole slit and the component limbs thereof are successively'laid in advance of the overseam'ing stitch-forming mechanism so as to be embraced thereby upon the up- .per face of the fabric and around the buttonhole slit, the portions of cord adjacent these limbs of the loop being extended along the lower face of the fabric to similarly corded adjacent buttonholes. The portion of the cord passing through the fabric may be exposed in the portion extending beyond the edge-covering stitches, but such portion is preferably covered and effectively concealed by a series of barring stitches, so that while the buttonhole has the ornamental appearance and the effective surface-covering quality contributed by the cord, the latter is wholly invisible upon the face of the work.

Heretofore, means have been devised for insuring the .entire concealment of a cord embraced within an edge-covering overseam of a buttonhole upon the upper or outer face of the fabric, as disclosed in my United States Patents Nos. 1,040,839 and 1,040,840, of October 8, 1912, and such means have been found eifective for ordinary classes of work wherein the fabric has'suflicient body to resist the tendency to distortion by an excessive strain upon the buttonhole. With certain thin or loosely woven fabrics, however, a strain upon the buttonhole or a stretching of the surrounding fabric caused thedislodgment or displacement of certain portions of the cord at the initial end of the buttonhole, and the consequent distortion of the buttonhole itself which has been found objectionable. Thus, with the continuous cord passing through the closed end of the buttonhole slit, as represented in my afore said Patent No. 1,040,840, a strain upon the buttonhole in certain cases caused the marring of the overseam toward the smaller end by the drawing of the cord over the edge of the slit through a material proportion of the length of the buttonhole.

According to the present improvement, the lead of both limbs of the cord is invariably toward the aperture formed therefor in the fabric in alinement with the initial end of the slit, regardless of the strain upon the fabric and the tendency to distortion produced thereby, the lateral lead of the cord upon the lower face of the fabric having no effect in shifting the cord within the overseam over the edge of the slit, as has been demonstrated by actual test.

In a modification of the present improvement, the cord is run from each to the next buttonhole between overlapped plies of fabric in which the buttonholes are formed.

'By this means, the cord is wholly concealed containing eyelet-end buttonholes made in accordance with the present improvement, and with the cord between the buttonholes disposed upon the lower face of the under fabric. Fig. 2 is a similar perspective view representing a modification with a difierent form of bar at the initial end of the buttonhole and with the cord led between the buttonholes intermediate the overlapping plies of fabric.

As represented in the drawings, two over lapped pieces of fabric a and b, which may constitute the buttonhole ply of a shoe, are provided with a series of spaced eyelet-end buttonhole slits 0, and with small round apertures cl in alinement with and slightly beyond the narrow end of the slit The edges of each slit are covered by a continuent No. 735,433, dated Aug. 4, 1903, these barring stitches covering an area embracing the cord-aperture (Z. A loop of the cord 3 is extended upwardly through each of the apertures d from the under face of the lower ply b and spread around the margin of the slit whereon it is confined by the embracing edge-covering stitches, and the limbs of such loop are crossed and extended in opposite directions each to an adjacent buttonhole or to a suitable anchorage upon the under face of the work.

In the form of buttonhole represented in Fig. 2, the initial end of the buttonhole is provided with a crossbar composed of a succession of superposed stitches 1 partially covering the aperture d, portions of the cord 3 led through such aperture extending slightly beyond the bar so as to be visible upon the face of the work but not sufficiently to mar the appearance of the buttonhole; while thefilling cord is crossed within the aperture and is extended oppositely upon the under face of the upper ply and intermediate the latter and the lower ply between the buttonhole positions.

By the provision of a closed aperture for the cord entirely separate from the buttonhole slit, the lead of the cord toward and from the initial end of the buttonhole upon the upper face of the fabric is absolutely fixed, and any degree of tension due to strain upon the buttonhole in use cannot dislodge the cord from such end and change the lateral lead of the cord to different positions lengthwise of the buttonhole slit depending upon the degree of elongation of the buttonhole due to such strain, as was possible with certain classes of fabric in the employment of a buttonhole such as that of my said Patent No. 1,040,840. By the present method of applyingthe cord, not only is its disarrangement prevented, but the buttonhole is materially strengthened so as to effectually resist strains thereon.

'While the nature of the mechanism employed in the production of a buttonhole such as that herein shown and described is not material to the present improvement, it may inpractice be made by the use of a buttonhole cutting and stitching machine such -as that represented in my United States Patbe made the subject of a separate application.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is 1. A fabric provided with a stitched but tonhole formed with a slit having an overseam composed of a plurality of interlooped stitching threads extending along both edges thereof and with an adjacent aperture, and

a cord-loop surrounding said slit and embraced within said overseam upon one face of the fabric with both limbs of said loop leading through said aperture to the other face of the fabric.

2. A fabric provided with a stitched buttonhole formedwith a slit and with an adjacent aperture disposed in alinement therewith and having a plural-thread overseam embracing both edges of the slit and extending across said aperture, said overseam having a marginal purl of its component threads disposed upon one face of the fabric, and a cord-loop surrounding: said slit and embraced within said overseam upon the other face of the fabric with both limbs of said loop led through said aperture and extended along the first-named face of the fabric each across the line of the slit from the margin of the latter upon which it is secured by said overseam.

3. As an article of manufacture, superposed fabrics provided with a stitched buttonhole formedv with a slit extending through both fabrics and an adjacent aperture in one of said fabrics disposed in alinement therewith, and with an overseam extending along both edges of the slit and composed of stitches extending through both fabrics, and a cord embraced within said overseam upon the face of that fabric formed with the aperture and led through said aperture from between said fabrics.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

N. H. Hor'r," H. J. MILIIER. 

